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About The Author

Nona Raybern
Nona writes things called words and puts them into sentences that are supposed to make sense, but sometimes don't. Writing this bio would be one of those times where it don't. She also likes grammer and speeling. And bourbon. And OH MY GOD, IS THAT A CUPCAKE?

I actually thought all of Pussy Riot was free… they just released a video about what a homophobe and asshole Putin is. I wish I liked their music more because I so respect what they’re doing.

The Montenegro thing sadly isn’t surprising. The farther south you go into the Balkans, the more homophobic people get. I’ve actually had friends from Serbia and Montenegro say that people weren’t homophobic for the last 20 years or so, but recently it’s become “popular”. Young guys want to seem cool and for some reason lately being cool involves being homophobic. As the country I live in is also a former Yugo country (though much, much more progressive), a lot of my friends here constantly tell me about how awesome it is when you go south… people are so much more open in the true Balkans and warm and friendly… and I’m always like, Okay, I haven’t been there, but… you guys aren’t gay. Maybe I’d have fun there if I hid that aspect of myself… also, a friend of mine from Croatia was with a woman for years, and was only comfortable with it because her girlfriend looked like a guy so nobody could tell they were a gay couple. Months after they broke up, she started dating a guy, and I can’t help but wonder why :-/

ErzengelDesLichtes

Federal authorities put heat on web firms for master encryption keys.

You have no idea how much this angers me. It’s like they’re asking manufacturers of home locks to provide them with master keys for every lock they make. Wouldn’t that make their surveillance job a whole lot easier? No need to pick locks or break down doors, just use the master key!

llama

Whoa, that’s fucked up.

El_Kaiju

“Valls called secularism one of the most beautiful values of the French republic.’

I agree with the law regarding the burqa ban and the importance of secularism.

llama

I get that Islam is the minority religion in the western world, but I do not get why I hear from the same mouths that Christians are awful and Muslims are sweet. Both are religions, and they’re very similar. And there are good and bad people in both groups. But it’s hypocritical for people to not want a church built somewhere, but a mosque is SO GREAT! It’s forced “equality”, because it’s not actual equality.

That said, I’m not sure how I feel about the burqa ban because there’s no Christian equivalent to compare it to.

El_Kaiju

For me, most laws a nation makes automatically trump the ones in your 1,000+ year old book that has been re-written multiple times by an unknown number of authors.

I’m sure some of the supporters of this law are simply anti-Islamic but it’s a legit security concern.

Not only the police is infiltrated in among protesters in Rio: they are the ones throwing the bombs against the riot police to start the conflicts.

IronEdithKidd

Same thing happens at every protest in the western world. Look for asshats dressed in brand-new black clothing and wearing police-issue steel-toe, kevlar lined boots (they look like clunky combat boots). Those are police. If you can’t physically separate yourselves from them, take their pictures and put ’em on the internet. Make sure you get clear images of their faces.

Sigmund_Jung

Yep. That’s why the police was also arresting people recording the riots with cellphones — accusing them of instigating the violence. Two guys from alternative news were arrested while in the middle of a streaming, but the backlash was so huge they had to be released hours later. One poor guy was chased by police and arrested, accused of carrying molotov cocktails (a crime without bail). The police even showed a bag with 20 of them. But people on Facebook collected all videos from the night and made an incredible editing, showing the guy had no backpack before and after. The regular newslets took 2 or 3 days to finally break the news. I have many concerns about Facebook, but that is amazing what people can do with it.